Four years after beginning a consulting career in Atlanta, Andrew Winter came to two realizations. First, he knew he needed to continue his education. “In the bigger world of consulting,” he says, “an MBA is almost a necessity.” And second, Andrew sought a “life move,” explaining, “I was looking for an opportunity to be closer to my family in St. Louis.”

Vanderbilt provided the doorway to both goals. In addition to allowing him to pursue a degree in a city nearer to his home, Vanderbilt impressed him immediately with “recruiting efforts that were by far the most personalized of all the schools I looked at.” After a post-COVID MBA fair in Atlanta, one of Vanderbilt’s admissions team members offered to meet in Nashville as Andrew headed to St. Louis for the holidays and gave him a personal tour of the Owen School. That tour led him to attend other welcome events, which in turn helped him make his final decision.

The personalization that he saw initially became a hallmark of Andrew’s time at Vanderbilt. Through the student-run Owen Consulting Club, he gained valuable experience outside of the classroom, serving as president in his second year. “It felt like running a small business,” he says.

Through classes like Sports Analytics and Business of Sports, Andrew combined his interest in consulting, his love of professional football, and his entrepreneurial bent. As part of his coursework, Andrew and his team members conducted a statistical analysis that NFL teams could use to identify the best predictors of success for tight ends entering the league from the ranks of college football.

And through Project Pyramid—a student-led, interdisciplinary effort to alleviate global poverty—Andrew traveled to Ecuador during his first year, working with Ecuadorian businesses and spending a week in the Galápagos Islands.

The school’s alumni network also played a part in helping Andrew reach his personal goals. As a first-year student, and then as president of the Owen Consulting Club, he made connections with Owen alumni at McKinsey & Company in St. Louis. Those connections ultimately led to the job he wanted in the city he wanted.

“If you’re looking for a program where you can truly lead, be known, and grow professionally and personally, Vanderbilt is it,” he says. “The people, the access, and the tight-knit community create a launchpad for whatever you want to do next.”